Abraham’s real legacy comprised of belief in the oneness of
God, Hanīfiyyat (hatred of polytheism and attention to
oneness), the prayer and arrangements for zakāh,
serving the House of God, hajj and teaching of its rites, and
providing guidance to pilgrims. He had given his eldest son,
Ishmael (sws) to the service of the House of God, and thus the
latter was, in fact the heir to this legacy. Subsequently, his
children were responsible for implementing the objectives of
the construction of the Ka‘bah. Thus, their most desired
obligations were to arrange for hajj and ‘umrah, being hosts
to the pilgrims, providing facilities to them during their
stay in Makkah and sacrificing animals at the altar of the
Ka‘bah. There is evidence of the homage paid by the younger
son, Isaac (sws) and his children at the Ka‘bah, but they were
free of the managing responsibilities. They were, however,
honoured by being recipients of several prophets, one after
the other. They received divine guidance in the form of holy
books of Torah, the Psalms and the Gospels. They had the
commandments in the form of the compiled sharī‘ah. It is
obvious, therefore, that the children of Isaac (sws) were
given the responsibility to communicate the word of God to the
rest of mankind.

The two branches of the progeny of Abraham (sws) could have
wished, and, in fact were desirous of, having the prayer of
Abraham (sws) being in their favour, and the promised prophet
being born amidst them. But the Ishmaelites possessed some
qualities that Isaac’s progeny did not. God therefore
preferred them over the children of Isaac (sws), and chose
them to lead the world. The factors that came into play for
this selection will be discussed below.

Performance of the
Israelites

When the children of Isaac (sws), more commonly known as
the Israelites were chosen to serve the cause of faith, they
perceived it to be their right, based on their being children
of prophets and of elitist families. They were under the
misunderstanding that they were the chosen and favourite group
of God. They would openly declare themselves as the children
of God and say that their birth was different from that of
others on earth. Hence they would consider no other nation
equal to themselves, nor would they treat them on an equal
footing. They possessed divine guidance, but they held on to
it as a snake on a treasure, neither spreading its knowledge,
nor bringing the original book out in the open. Whatever they
wanted done, they would declare it to have come from God and
to be a part of the book. They did not preserve the books
either, and when they were lost, they tried to restore these
through memory, which changed their content entirely. Despite
this, they could not get rid of their habit of continuing to
distort the word of God. They were thus responsible of being
dishonest with the responsibility that had been entrusted to
them. Their behavior with the Ishmaelites was so offensive and
disparaging that they considered any cruelty or insult to them
to be lawful and allowable for themselves. The Qur’ān refers
to this in the following words:

There are some
among the people of the Book who return a whole treasure
entrusted to them. Yet some who do not give back a dīnār until
you demand and insist, because they say: “We cannot be blamed
for [usurping] the rights of the un-lettered.” (3:75)

The Israelites tried to erase all signs that showed the
Ishmaelites in a positive light. They even removed any mention
of the legacy of Abraham (sws) from their literature, and
assumed the House of God to mean Bayt al-Maqdis. They replaced
Makkah’s original name, Bakkah, with the word Bukā’, and
connected it with a valley. They renamed Marwah, which was the
place of sacrifice for Ishmael (sws), with Mūriyah, claiming
that it was in Jerusalem and that Isaac (sws) had been
presented there for sacrifice. They also eliminated the basic
two pillars of the Abrahamic faith: prayer and zakāh. The
Qur’ān says:

But they were
succeeded by a generation, who neglected their devotional
prayers and follow only earthly pleasures. (19:59)

This is the reason why ancient books are devoid of any
mention of prayer. Although zakāh and ‘ushr are mentioned, the
recipients are given as soothsayers instead of the poor and
needy. The Israelites did not preserve their own language,
Hebrew which was the language of the Torah and earlier holy
books. As a result, their own people, who came to be called
the Jews, remained ignorant of the real content of these
books.

The Israelites had put so many constraints in the way of
learning the basic tenets of religion that the concept of
oneness and of life after death vanished completely. Prophets
were taken to be sons of God; holy books were emptied of any
mention of the Day of Judgment. If this was mentioned in any
form, it was only to assume that they would be successful and
achieve their goal. History recorded the Israelites in general
and the Jews in particular, as a cruel, conspiratorial,
untrustworthy and self serving group. Stories of their cruelty
and miserliness are legendary. In spite of this, they were
assured that the promised prophet would be from among them.
They used to announce this to the Arabs who were awed by them.

Performance of the
Ishmaelites

No prophet was born among Abraham’s progeny after Ishmael (sws).
He had the divine guidance in non-written form, but he was
entrusted with the management of the House of God, with
associated worship rites of prayer, zakāh, sacrifice,
circumambulation, i‘tikāf, hajj and ‘umrah. The Ishmaelites
were large in numbers and had to migrate to other parts of the
country where they also had the opportunity to rule, but they
never broke off their ties with their religious centre.
Whenever any weakness was exhibited by those responsible for
management of the centre, or the pilgrims faced persecution,
the Ishmaelites stepped in to put a stop to such acts, and
turn them around. This is why even after thousands of years
had passed, the system of worship was preserved and so was the
interest of the Ishmaelites in this system.

As far as the concept of the oneness of God is concerned,
there was always a particular group within the Ishmaelites
that continued to believe in it and to follow the faith that
had been a tradition with all the good people. The Ishmaelites
were never arrogant or proud of their qualities. Instead, they
were respectful of the Israelites for receiving so many
prophets and holy books and called them People of the Book. In
their own humility, they considered themselves unlettered and
ignorant of religious matters. They did not give much
importance to their population, sovereignty of several states
and worldly grace, but saw greatness in prophethood and
apostleship. They retained a vague idea of the Abrahamic
prayer regarding the promised prophet, and, when comparing
themselves to the Jews in relation to their love for truth,
they would say that if ever they received a divine book, they
would meet its obligations fully and become God’s servants by
accepting it with their hearts and souls. Referring to this,
the Qur’ān says:

The
disbelievers swore emphatically that if an admonisher came to
them, they would be guided better than the other communities.
(35:42)

They used to
say: “If we had been reminded of the example of earlier
people, we would have been the chosen creatures of God.”
(37:167-169)

We see magnanimity of character within the Ishmaelites.
They were extremely generous and charitable towards guests,
willing to sacrifice and give of their own. Bravery and
heroism were qualities they had in abundance. They would fight
for meaningful goals with fearlessness, compete with each
other in courage and tell stories about their courage to
others with pride. Such incidents became topics of poetry and
became n common knowledge. The Ishmaelites recognized the
rights of others, and respected the obligations of
relationships. Their attitude in worldly matters was based on
sincerity and free from hypocrisy. They refrained from telling
lies, valued truth, honoured promises and were kind and
merciful towards the poor. If they believed in something, they
would not let any expedience stand in the way. Their language,
too, was free of any artificiality, and they took special care
to preserve its originality. This is the reason why the Arabic
language is still in its pure form, barring a few words that
have come in because of cultural inroads from other nations.

The Ishmaelites lived the life of a tribal people.
Collectively, each tribe was responsible for the safety and
welfare of its people. Any tendency to consider issues of
individuals or of supporters as no concern of their own was
looked down upon. Turning in any person from one’s own tribe
to the enemy was an act of baseness. If an individual of a
tribe committed a big crime, the entire tribe contributed to
payment of the expiation money. As much effort was put into
defending a supporter as their own relatives. If anyone took
an outsider into protection, it was necessary for the entire
tribe to protect that person exactly the same as they would
protect their own families. Such protection was called jiwār.

The superiority of Ishmaelites over the Israelites was also
due to the fact that the former had never been enslaved,
whereas the latter has become slaves several times. They were
slaves in Egypt at the time of the Pharaohs; they were freed
but were again enslaved by Nebuchadnezzar for 70 years. They
were freed by Cyrus of Persia. The psyche of a nation that has
remained independent is different from that of one that has
seen years of slavery.

Religious and Moral
Conditions of the Ishmaelites

Although the Ishmaelites possessed all the above positive
qualities, with the passing of time, various ills related to
beliefs and practices crept in and started to diminish their
favourable character. However, their excesses did not go
beyond a certain level. We need to understand what these
collective ills of their society were.

The Concept of
Oneness of God

The Qur’ān has clarified it clearly that the Arabs believed
in God and in His attributes, although they were polytheists.
They knew that He was the Creator and Owner of everything, He
bestowed sustenance to every creature, He was in control, He
was the source of life and death and He was the Driver and the
Force behind the entire universe. The Qur’ān says:

Ask them: “Who
gives you food and sustenance from the skies and earth? Or,
who is the Lord of the ear and the eye? And who brings forth
the living from the dead, the dead from the living. And who
directs all affairs?” They will say: “God.” So tell them: “Why
do you not fear Him?” (10:31)

Say: “To whom
does the earth and whosoever is upon it then belong, if you
know?” They will say: “To God.” Say: “Then why do you not
bethink yourselves.” Say: “Then who is the Lord of the seven
skies? And who is the Lord of the mighty Throne?” They will
say: “God.” Say: “Then why do you not obey and fear him?” Say:
“Whose is the sovereignty over all things? Who protects, and
against whom there is no protection? [Answer] if you have
knowledge.” They will say:” “God’s.” Say: “Then why are you so
deluded?” (23:84-89)

These verses draw the attention of Arabs to the fact that
while they believe in God and his attributes, they do not
understand the concomitant demands made on them, and end up
negating their beliefs through their practices. They should,
therefore, remove this blemish and create harmony between what
they believe in and what they do.

The polytheism of the Arabs was relatively simple. It has
been observed that nations that spend thousands of years
practicing polytheism develop it to an extent that they create
a complex mythology around it. In the mythology, the status of
gods and goddesses, their relationships with each other,
matters related to their wars and peace, love and hate and how
they settle their differences is defined. This can be seen
from a study of both the Greek and Hindu mythologies. Their
stories are so complicated that the mind finds it difficult to
extricate itself from its intricacies. According to the
concept of the Arabs, God’s kingdom was similar to that of
kings on earth. Just as human beings as kings delegate their
responsibilities to others who use these powers as they will,
God did the same. The Arabs thought that since it was
difficult to reach God Himself, it was necessary to keep these
“delegatees” happy and satisfied so that they would, in turn,
sort out their matters for them. Thus, keeping them happy was
perceived to being near to God.

Thinking that God was far from human beings, Arabs also
believed that there were separate Gods for the earth and
heaven. The heavenly God was ensconced firmly on His throne,
and the God on earth took care of things that happened here.
Since human beings interacted with representatives of the
“earthly God”, it was important to keep them happy and ask
them for favours.

The beings that were considered to be partners of God by
the Arabs were angels, jinn and some vague, but revered
personalities. Angels were taken to be daughters of God. They
thought that angels are of a very high status within the
kingdom of God and that He favours them and fulfills their
wishes readily. They considered the blessings of this world to
be favours bestowed on them through angels. They thought that
angels would enable them to gain a high status in the life
after death and that they would plead their case because they
worship them.

The jinn were thought to share the attributes of God and
had the same rights. They were the source of knowledge of the
occult. Various efforts were made to develop connections with
the jinn. Sorcery was practiced based on perceived knowledge
received through the jinn. Good and evil was related with
them, and offerings and sacrifices were made to them to be
free from misfortunes. When travelling and crossing a valley
or a pass, they would call out to the jinn associated with
that area and request for safe transit.

The Arabs were also believers in the fortunes of the stars.
Some stars were supposed to be blessed, and some were evil.
Some were associated with good fortune. Different
superstitions came to be attached with the rising and setting
of stars, and with their revolution around the planet. The
study of stars was also a part of sorcery. People would
consult sorcerers and soothsayers in every important matter,
and seek their guidance before taking decisions for the
future.

Idol Worship

Idol worship began among the Ishmaelites by ‘Amr ibn Luhayy
Khuzā‘ī when the Banū Khuzā‘ah was managing the House of God.
He had installed the statue of Habal in front of the Ka‘bah,
and it gained central importance. More statues started to come
in and when those of I%sāf and Nā’ilah were brought, it was
thought that this corner would be most appropriate for the
altar. When Makkah’s citizens travelled out of the city, they
would keep a stone from the House of God with them for
blessings. Being away from the Ka‘bah, their attachment with
the stone would be enhanced, and they would make them a source
of prayer for help and success. In this manner, idol worship
spread to other parts of Arabia.

Idol sculpture was never adopted as a craft among the
Arabs. The stones mentioned above were not sculpted. As
narrated by one of the companions of the Prophet (sws), Abū
Rajā’ al-Attārdī (rta), they would take any stone and start to
worship it. If they found something better, they would throw
away the previous one and worship the second. From this
statement it appears that polytheism was not fully established
in Arabia, and if a few people had made efforts to eliminate
it, there was possibility of overcoming any minor resistance
that may have been offered and gathering the Arabs under the
natural faith once again.

The other main idols were ‘Uzzā, Lāt and Manāt. ‘Uzzā was
installed at Nakhlah and was accessible while coming from
Tā’if to Makkah. Banū Hashims’ supporting tribe, Banū Shaybān
was in charge of this idol. The idol for the tribe of Thaqīf,
Lāt was in Tā’if. Manāt was placed in a worship house at the
top of a hill in a district called Qadīd on the way between
Yathrab and Makkah. These three statues were assumed to be
those of angels. The polytheists declared that they were
goddesses of the highest stature, and that they were fully
convinced that their prayers to them would be answered. When
idol worship expanded to other tribes too, the trustees of the
House of God brought the statues that they worshipped inside,
until their total number reached 360. The keepers started
seeing them as a source of their strength, and slowly the
belief that the presence of these statues was essential to
retain the political superiority of Makkah gained ground. If
the statues were displaced, this would be seen as the
political demise of the Arabs.

The Arabs did not believe that these idols were the
creators of the earth or heavens, or that they had made the
sun and the moon. They believed that they are beings that are
beloved of God who listens to them. If they are served, they
would bring blessings on earth. If there is a life hereafter,
they would speak up for them and have them forgiven. Hence
they were presented with offerings to please them, prayers
were chanted to have wishes granted and sacrifices were
offered in their names.

Observing this interest of the Arabs in statues, some
self-serving people created sacred places, abodes and temples,
making it known that gods, goddesses and ghosts reside there,
and in order to appease them it was necessary to make
offerings to them. Priests gave decisions on concocted
religious grounds, and superstitious people would believe in
them. Animals were also slaughtered at these places.

If anyone raised a voice against such a system, he was
quickly silenced by the argument that the system is a legacy
that has come from their ancestors, and hence could not be
abandoned. Had it been disliked by God, He would have
exercised His powers and stopped them from implementing it.

Sanctity and
Religious Approval

Nations that follow polytheism also create a system of
rules and regulations for practical life so that polytheism
becomes strongly entrenched within their lives and they are
unable to leave it. This is also what happened with the Arabs.
According to the sharī‘ah of Abraham (sws), they were liable
to taking out a certain proportion of their wealth from
agriculture and livestock. Under the polytheist system, they
began to share out a proportion for the idols too. If for some
reason, they were unable to take out both, they would transfer
the one they had put aside for God towards the idols, but
never vice versa. Thus, it was possible to compensate the
idols from what had been kept aside for God, but if God’s
share was used up, the Idol’s share could not be used as
compensation.

The Arabs would readily eat the things that had been
declared prohibited from the days of Abraham (sws), but would
refrain from eating those they had themselves given this
status under polytheism. According to ancient sharī‘ah, it was
necessary to slaughter with the name of God to ensure
religious sanctity, and any animal slaughtered without this
was prohibited. But animals were slaughtered without taking
God’s name at the temples, and people would eat the meat with
no hesitation. There were several restrictions placed on these
offerings. Men could eat them, but women could not. If a
sacrificial animal gave birth, men could eat its meat, whereas
women could not, but if the baby was stillborn, both sexes
could partake of its meat.

Some animals were left free. It was not considered
legitimate to ride them or to use them for carrying burdens.
These animals could graze anywhere or drink from any water
place. They were considered so sacred that people would be
frightened lest they be taken to be teasing them. The Qur’ān
has mentioned bahīrah, sā’ibah, wasīlah and hām. Historians
have differed on the characteristics of the animals, but this
is of no significance here. It would be enough to understand
the mentality of the polytheists to know that the bahīrah was
the she camel that had birthed five babies and the last one
had been a male. Sā’ibah’s owner should have made a vow that
he would free her once she had grown well enough. Wasīlah was
the goat or ewe that gave birth to both females and males
simultaneously and its male children were not considered good
enough as offerings for the idols. Hām was the camel that had
sired 10 generations.

The Rituals of Hajj

The Arabs had retained all the worship rituals for hajj,
but had made some changes according to their whims. As a
result, the spirit that was desired was no longer existent.
The original form of prayer existed, but in imitation of other
polytheists, they had introduced whistling and clapping of
hands. It is mandatory to recite the talbiyah during hajj and
‘umrah travel, whose words negate polytheism entirely, but the
Arabs changed the wordings to accommodate their idols. After
the completion of the rituals, people are supposed to change
from their ihrām, but the tribes from Aws, Khazraj and Ghassān
would present themselves at the statue of Manāt while still
dressed in the ihrām, and reciting the changed form of
talbiyah. People from Yathrab would start their journey with
the talbiyah for Manāt, and would not go under a roof until
they had completed all the rituals. After putting on the ihrām,
if they needed to go into any house, they would climb over the
wall behind the house.

The greatest ritual of hajj is to go to ‘Arafāt on the day
of hajj, but the Quraysh did not think this was essential for
them. Other pilgrims would stop at Muzdalifah on their way
from Mina to Arafat. They believed that being the keepers of
the Ka‘bah, and residents of Makkah, they should not leave
Makkah because the latter is more sacred than any other place.
They had given this exception to tribes of their choice, such
as Thaqīf, Ghatfān, Khuzā‘ah, Aws and Khazraj. The tribes who
were considered worthy of this were called hums and were eyed
with great respect and envy.

The Quraysh had also placed the restriction on pilgrims
that they would throw away their clothes after
circumambulation and that they would not be worn again. If
they did not wish to throw them away, they could borrow
clothes from the people from the tribes of hums, or
circumambulate naked. Thus they made nakedness a part of
worship for both men and women and caused a situation for them
to look at each other in front of the Ka‘bah. However, no
records are available for women who danced, sang or otherwise
were responsible to keep the pilgrims happy.

Four months of the twelve, Dhū al-Qa‘dah, Dhū al-Hijjah,
Muharram and Rajab had been taken to be the sacred months
since ancient days. The first three months were reserved for
hajj, and Rajab for ‘umrah. All Arab tribes would stop any
fighting during these months. There would be complete peace
everywhere and pilgrims came to Makkah without any fear. The
managers of the Ka‘bah did not maintain the sanctity of the
sacred months either. They created a system whereby each month
moved from its original place,. Additionally, sometime they
made a year thirteen months long, adding the unnamed month
before or after Muharram or even next to Rajab. Various
opinions exist about the system that was created but it is
necessary here to understand its basic principles.

We know that the lunar calendar is eleven days shorter than
the solar one, and that is why one month is added to their
difference after every three years. For example, if the lunar
month of Dhū al-Hijjah is according to the solar calendar of
September, after three years, this would fall in August. As
the years advance, the lunar month will recede and in thirty
three years, the difference between the two systems would be
of one year. Because weather changes are according to the
solar system, the months of hajj may fall in spring, autumn,
summer or winter. The Arabs did not like this situation. They
wanted hajj to come at a time when their quarterly trade
related travels would not be affected, and they would start
for hajj after cutting their harvests. Such was the month of
September, which was then associated with Dhū al-Hijjah. After
three years, when hajj fell in August, one month would be
added to the lunar year so that Dhū al-Hijjah would still come
in September. In this way, the year was of twelve months. This
prerogative of adding one month was given to the tribe of Banū
Malik bin Kanānah. They would add three months in eight years,
sometimes after two, and at other times after three years. The
announcement of the additional month was made by a reputed man
from the tribe. As a result of this innovation, not only did
the month of hajj move from its original position, the status
of the four sacred months was also affected.

The month of September was very appropriate for holding
trade fairs and recreational activities. The real purpose of
hajj and ‘umrah was relegated to the background, and the main
interests became trade and entertainment. ‘Arafa#t, Muzdalifah
and Mina# became places of interest. The Arabs were very fond
of war challenges and boasts. They were often engaged in
tribal wars. In their boasts, their poets and orators would
exaggerate the feats of their respective parties and win over
the others. During the days of Hajj, instead of focusing on
God, their attention was on storytelling and boasting about
their achievements on the battlefield.

Culture

Drinking and gambling were favourite pastimes among the
Arabs. But the purpose was not always winning for personal
gain or debauchery, but it had sympathy and provision of
support for the poor and needy at times. During winter,
sometimes there would be famine and the poor would find it
difficult to meet their food requirements. Some of the more
adventurous and generous leaders would hold gatherings for men
to drink, and in a state of drunkenness, get hold of someone’s
camel and slaughter it. They would then gamble atop the
collected meat, distribute the winnings and the meat among the
poor. The owner of the camel would be given the payment that
he asked for. Such generous people were honoured greatly in
society and were written about in poetry.

Interest-based trade was always common among the Jews of
Arabia, and they played a hateful role in this, but it had
also extended to most of Arabia. There were some people who
fixed a time period by which the borrower would have to return
the money. When this period ended, they would ask the borrower
to pay an additional amount in the form of interest.

In some groups of the society, certain customs that were
unjust and cruel to women had become a norm. For example, if a
man died, his wife/wives would be transferred to his heir
along with his property. His sons would leave their respective
biological mothers, and take on his other wives as theirs. If
a man said to his wife that she is as unlawful to him as his
own mother, or compared any of her physical features with
those of any females he was not allowed to marry, it would be
considered the same as divorce, and there would be no
possibility of any reconciliation. Such a form of divorce was
called zihār.

There was no limit on the number of wives. Tribal leaders
wed several times. Temporary marriages were also common. Women
desirous of such marriages would raise flags at their houses
so that candidates might approach them.

Marriage could be solemnized simultaneously with sisters,
aunts and nieces. Adopted sons were considered real sons and
their wives were treated as daughters-in-law. Adoptive fathers
would never consider marrying them.

Some Arabs considered daughters to be hateful beings. When
hearing the news of the birth of his daughter, a new father
would hide his face from others. The reason was that in the
tribal form of life, sons were assets by taking part in all
the battles and adding to the strength of the tribe, whereas
daughters were merely a burden to these efforts. They were
useless in competitions of boasting, and the parents had to
bear additional burdens of marrying them off.

Infanticide was carried out for the following reasons:

1. The priests at the temples would frighten superstitious
people that they are the target of some ghosts or the jinn who
would get off their backs only if they sacrificed one of their
children. They would then be safe.

2. During days of famine, people would go hungry and some
would try to reduce the number of mouths to feed by killing
their children.

3. It is commonly perceived that Arabs buried their
daughters alive. This is not true generally of most of them.
Only a few of the so called “honour” driven and hard-hearted
fathers of the Banū Tamīm tribe did so that they did not have
to give their daughters to others in wedlock. The entire Banū
Tamīm tribe did not practice this; otherwise such a large
tribe could not have sustained it on the basis of men alone.
The bad acts of a few are generalized as the actions of all.
Such acts of misguided honour are the result of a few mentally
ill people and this is also what happened in Arabia.

It was possible to remove these weaknesses of the
Ishmaelites through knowledge based arguments because Arabs
were simple and clear headed by nature. When they understood
something, they showed their generosity by accepting it fully.
The positive aspects of their character distinguished them
from the Israelites. Therefore, God answered the part of
Abraham’s (sws) prayer in which he had asked for a prophet and
the establishment of a Muslim nation, in favour of the
Ishmaelites. The stage when the last Prophet would come and
the world would be graced by the divine and final guidance had
been reached.